Old habits DRY hard! It's DRY JANUARY thread #2... newcomers always welcome!

[HPLikecraft]

Here we are, a shiny new thread to help us stay dry.

Thread one has been great and supportive; and thread two will take us through further challenges and milestones. Hop aboard; you're all doing brilliantly!

We can do this. We are nearly in our final week!

I'm home alone on Saturday night and would totally be up for this! I wonder if I could crochet something dry January related. A can of coke possibly as that's what I've replaced alcohol with (no weight loss for me )

@MeinKraft - DJ crochet would be amazing😀. Not sure my knitting can compete. I might have to resort to composing a song instead.

Anyone care to suggest an AF cocktail that we could slurp while waiting for talent to materialise?

I've been pretty much fine so far. But have three nights of socialising now including my Dad's big birthday party. Feeling pretty resolute but also terrified. I'm hosting it essentially, in a bar, and I would normally smash it to cope with social anxiety.

@Onehappymam I definitely did feel that pull for 'more' after the sentia, but my inhibitions weren't effected as with alcohol so not an issue to refrain (I do have some wine in the house, which didn't touch).

That article is sobering @PermanentTemporary. I was planning to have a drink or two on Sat 3rd. I’m meeting with friends. Now I’m beginning to have a rethink. I thought if I had a couple of dry months a year, I was going to do October. 3 to 4 dry days a week, I would be ok. But now it looks like if I have more than 2 glasses when I do drink, I’m potentially doing damage still. This is hard to consider.

So, here we are on day 20 and 62% of the way there.

@Els1e I agree, I’m shocked that just two large glasses constitutes a binge.

@MeinKraft thank you for the information on the benefits, that is motivating.

I also find looking at my monthly calendar quite motivating. We’ve almost done three full weeks!

So according to my plan, week 3 for me was every other day dry, one small glass on non dry days. Week 4 will be my full on dry week. So I had my dry Tuesday, stuck to the small glass Wednesday then had another dry day yesterday. I’m having the small glass just before I go to sleep so there’s no temptation to drink more and also to back up the habit of not drinking with food or sitting watching tv.

I must admit, on Wednesday evening I did get a bit jittery and felt like I was having that one glass because I needed it, not because I wanted it. But I think by now that must be psychological rather than physical. This was my issue before with trying dry days, the day itself was fine but the following day I would feel so desperate and really unwell. It wasn’t as bad as that on Wednesday, I’d say mildly uncomfortable, as my body is now used to lower amounts.

I’m going to do a dry February, although it’s a short month, with next week dry tacked on to it, it will be over a month. After that I don’t know. I do know I never want to go back to drinking as I was. It’s something for me to think about more in February I think.

@Fuwari That sound like a good plan and realistic too. I think there will be a few keeping this thread going in February

Oooh I like the idea of a talent show. Have a poem on the go.

Good luck for those with 'tricky' social events to navigate this weekend and thanks for the 'sobering' articles.
From articles like this and my own reflections this month it's really making me think properly about what happens after DJ. To me it feels like a bit of a security blanket as I like the black and whiteness off it. I feel like at the end it's making your way into the big wide world and having to make choices.

I have my liver function test on feb 1st and I hope the enzymes will have reduced to an encouraging amount.

I have a friend doing DJ and he has said he feels so much better he's going to carry on indefinitely. I feel so much better too. I always had it in my head that I might continue (if I could manage it) into half way through feb. Let's see. I haven't found it that difficult (I was 80-90 units a week) but I think feb could be harder.

Really proud of all of us on here for sticking to their plans whatever they were at the outset!

Well, my big social event of the weekend is a club shoot with my archery club, so not an event that is conducive to drinking. I'll be flinging some arrows in the forest, providing home made ginger cake and having some good laughs before going home swearing about how bloody cold it was.

Still no word on the job despite email chaser, am just going to call them on Monday. And my youngest DC (disabled, autistic, at university) has just been in touch to say their exam went well enough today despite them being in Sertraline withdrawal because their provider didn't manage to get the ordered meds to them in time, so am feeling relieved. I've encouraged them to complain, you can't mess with mental health meds.

Would a Saturday night at the cinema suit - socialising but no booze? Once you are in you can be imersed in the film of choice, Sat evening passes and you can always visit the pick and mix or have an ice cream to feel spoilt on the way in, if that's your thing. Or a vat of fizzy pop. Then have a coherent chat about it with any film companions. Just a thought.

i think someone mentioned something further down thread about recycling bins being emptier.

i nearly forgot to put ours out today because there was almost nothing in them. The cardboard one had no empty lager/cider boxes in, the glass one only had 3 lonely food jars in, (it’s normally overflowing) but the plastics gave it away with an excessive amount of empty lemonade bottles.

it was a bit of an eye opener. I used to joke with dh that the bin men must think we were alcoholics, but it’s scary looking back on how much we must’ve been drinking !

No wonder we are feeling better doing DJ. At the moment we’re both planning to carry on

Really struggling today!

I’ve not really felt any benefits (other than saving money) and I’m going out to dinner - would love a nice large glass of Pinot G.

Im finding it hard to make weekend evenings feel different to weeknight ones.

Im also justifying caving because my problem isn’t really drinking consistently (I only drink at the weekend anyway) it’s binging on a night out that I want to address, the kind of nights where you feel like death the next day and order Macdonalds.

I’ve dealt with that in Jan buy just not going out, so I sort of think what’s the point? I’ve not really dealt with the problem! Long term, I’m happy with my bottle of wine over the weekend as a treat.

I won’t cave in because I’m stubborn, but I’m so so tempted.

I have some CBD drinks arriving tonight which I'm looking forward to trying. The messages of support on here are helping so much. I find myself hearing 'poison!' in my head when I do much as look at wine which is helping also!

Cracked and shared a beer with my partner this evening. Been having the worst 6 months work-wise and have come to the realisation today it's doing my mental health real harm, so have drafted my resignation for Monday. Not proud of it but it is what it is.

@tinydancer88 that's very understandable, you've just taken a massive decision. And ultimately, leaving a job that is messing with your mental health is probably going to have a positive effect on your relationship with alcohol.

I left my last job for much the same reasons last year and have only just started dipping my toe back into the labour market so I totally get you.

Thanks, that’s nice of you to say - I’m only going to have the 1. I hope you find a new role which works for you.

Another day done. Its all so erratic. Last couple of days were tough,today no problem. Weird.
I have so much more energy and feel more positive. I'm going to have to try and keep this going.

Sentia having less of an effect second time round - but still a nice blurring around the edges. The cat seems really interested in it for some reason!

Oh gawd @Cherrymix I don't think I can do talent Saturday night as I'm.pretty talentless.......well nothing anyone would want to see! Don't let me stop others from sharing though.
I've started the weekend with a bang. Logged off work after a fairly crap week and played loud tunes off my favourites on spotify whilst singing at full volume (not a talent 😁) It really cheered me up and fortunately not upsetting the neighbours as they're away on both sides.
Got my beloved coming later, so I've got the fire ready to light, having a nice shower and hair wash, and have a glass of tonic with ginger and lemon cordial in a gin glass with lots of ice....tastes good! I did mistakenly pour myself a tonic with cider vinegar after picking up the wrong bottle. It didn't taste too bad!
Tomorrow we're going for a curry at one of the posher local places. Walking distance so we'd usually have quite a few drinks. I'm hoping that being in the nicer venue will make up for the lack of wine it won't
Re 2 glasses being a binge, I was surprised at this too, and that 2 glasses is 6 units. I can be just getting going on two glasses on a proper night out 😳. I do think length of time over which you're consuming has to be taken into account though. 2 large glasses in an hour....definitely a binge, whereas over say a longer period, as spritzers and maybe a glass of water in between...maybe not a binge? Still 6 units of your weekly total though.
It's a shame wine is poison isn't it 🙄
On the plus side, I've been trying to lose a few pounds over a number of months now and have lost around 10 pounds in total, with still a bit to go. My weight has been up and down this last month, but I have generally maintained the loss despite consuming toast instead of wine on more than one occasion, and this morning I was the lightest I've been since I started. Only by a smidgen but I'm taking that as a win.
Happy dry weekend all and good luck xx

Hey everyone, hope you're all well. I can see a few are struggling and fed up. There are still mental bonds to sever, physical dependencies or at least strong habits to get over.
Alcohol is a poison.
There are reams of facts about the benefits of quitting. We've all read them or seen them posted here or somewhere else. I think I may focus on one each day now to help rub it in.

BLOOD PRESSURE

Hands up if you've ever been slightly concerned about your blood pressure? Just one drink per day increases blood pressure, and the effects can be seen over the age of 35. More drinks mean a stronger effect. After 3 - 4 weeks of alcohol freeness the blood pressure is already lowered - seemingly to the same extent as BP lowering medication - and can settle to a healthy level after slightly longer. Higher blood pressure is linked to various health conditions which may not affect you now, but you'll have increased risk of in the future, such as:

heart disease.
heart attacks.
strokes.
heart failure.
peripheral arterial disease.
aortic aneurysms.
kidney disease.
vascular dementia.

TLDR: Booze = higher blood pressure = bad.

I had Sentia too last night. I like it. I have a relaxed feeling in my arms and lower back. It wouldn't make me lose my inhibitions or dance on the table, though.

OK, everyone, please stay dry tonight, because at midnight we will be....

64.5%

of the way through DJ. If you're good I'll round that up to 65%😉
Stay strong everyone 💪

I'm back to only a third through as am doing Dry Feb as well.

I have my Dry Jan poem ready!

@HPLikecraft would you know which thread had the last round of talent included please?